ITFI20130140A1 - SHORT DISTANCE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR SAFE IDENTIFICATION OF GOODS AND ASSOCIATED OPERATING METHOD - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

Attached to a patent application for INDUSTRIAL INVENTION having the title

“SHORT DISTANCE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR

SAFE IDENTIFICATION OF GOODS AND METHOD OF

ASSOCIATED OPERATION "

The present invention relates to a communication system and a relative method of operation; in detail, the present invention relates to a short distance communication system for safe identification of goods and an associated operating method.

As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, short-distance communication systems are known which use the reading of an NFC device or chip (from the English acronym near field communication) to ensure the safety of the purchase of goods ( for example, but not limited to, luxury clothes or bags).

NFC communication systems are widely used nowadays to make electronic devices "communicate" with each other with a chip whose mutual distance typically does not exceed a few tens of centimeters. Some of them use, according to the ISO / IEC 18000/3 standard, a transmission at a frequency of 13.56 MHz.

As described in figure 1, in an example of a known system an NFC chip 10 is used which is installed on every goods whose purchase or authenticity want to be made more secure; in detail, the NFC chip 10, or short distance communication chip, comprises inside it a first memory area 11 capable of storing inside it a first unique code (NFC_id). The first unique NFC_id code is assigned when the NFC 10 chip is produced by its manufacturing company; this means that if there were a thousand NFC 10 chips, each of them would report in the first memory area a first unique NFC_id code respectively equal to 1, 2, 3, ..., 1000. Each NFC 100 chip is associated in use by techniques known to a specific commodity.

Another entity or customer 40 (which for simplicity and clarity in this description will be identified here with the fictitious name "XYZ"), after receiving the order from the NFC chip manufacturer 10 to arrange a certification on a certain quantity of goods (for example, and obviously not limitedly, one hundred luxury bags), associates with each unique NFC_id code a second unique code, called serial code or serial number 21, associated with a specific merchandise, and which can also be found directly on the merchandise itself. . For example, according to the example built above, a specific luxury bag may have the following serial code (SER_n) 21: AAFF01252. For illustrative purposes, it will be assumed that the NFC 10 chip on the same bag has a first unique code NFC_id = 19.

The NFC chip 10 is configured to interact with a mobile electronic device, preferably a mobile phone 20, in the proximity conditions described above, so that it is possible to read the first unique code NFC_id (19) and then subsequently connect to a database associated with a remote customer interface 30 associated with the customer 40. In detail, the mobile phone 20 transmits the NFC_id code to the remote customer interface 30, which is searched for in the database and associated with the serial code 21 of the goods. In the specific example described above, the database will search for the NFC_id = 19 code, and from here you will find the association with the serial code 21 "AAFF01252". This serial code 21 is transmitted to the mobile phone 200, so that the customer can actually verify that he has purchased an original merchandise. Figure 2 shows an example of a data transceiver diagram on a known type system.

The first step, identified at the instant of time t1, consists in the reading in the NFC chip 10 by the mobile phone 20; subsequently, at the instant of time t2, the NFC 10 chip responds to the mobile phone by transmitting the unique code NFC_id = 19.

At this point, having received the first unique code NFC_id = 19, the mobile phone retransmits it (at the instant of time t3) to the remote user interface 30, which allows the association with the serial code of the goods AAFF01252 through the database. The serial code (SER_n), at the instant of time t4, is retransmitted to the mobile phone 20.

However, through this verification methodology, it is possible that the counterfeiter of goods makes identical copies of the NFC 100 chip, applying the same serial code AAFF01252 to several different goods, making copies that are not identifiable by the system as such. Nevertheless, the same buyer of the goods, unless the latter does not show obvious signs of the aforementioned counterfeiting, through the use of the known system it is not possible to account for the counterfeiting.

The purpose of the present invention is to describe a short-distance communication system for safe identification of goods and associated operating method that solves the previous drawbacks, and which in particular allows the safer identification of goods and their originality.

According to the present invention, a short-distance communication chip is provided, characterized in that it comprises: - a first memory or memory area capable of being read by a mobile device and comprising a first unique code associated with said short-term communication chip distance; a second memory or memory area, writable and readable by a mobile device, which stores a second univocal security code associated with a specific commodity to which said short-distance communication chip is in associated use.

The chip described above is therefore identifiable if it is counterfeit or read by a potential counterfeiter.

Advantageously, said first memory or memory area is of the read-only type. Therefore, any counterfeiting of the chip can only take place at the time of production, and not by subsequent writing.

According to the present invention, a short-distance communication system is provided for secure identification of goods, said communication system comprising at least one short-distance communication chip uniquely associated with said goods, capable of being interrogated by an electronic device, and a 'remote customer interface; the system is characterized by the fact that:

- said short distance communication chip comprises first and second memory areas; said first memory area containing a unique code associated with said short distance communication chip; the said second memory area being capable of containing a second univocal code, different from the said first univocal code, univocally associated with a specific commodity;

- said remote user interface is configured to transmit a second univocal security code to said electronic device following the sending of a signal by said electronic device.

Advantageously, said remote user interface exchanges data with a database containing relationships between said first unique code and said unique security code.

Therefore, the sensitive information relating to the first and second unique security codes are located in a remote location that is difficult to access by the potential counterfeiter.

Advantageously, it is configured to alternatively cancel said univocal security code or mark said univocal security code as used following said transmission of said univocal security code.

Advantageously, the transmission of said second univocal security code to said electronic device occurs prior to the reading of said communication chip at a short distance.

According to the present invention, a method of secure identification of goods is also described, characterized in that it comprises:

- A transmission step of a first unique code associated with a short-distance communication chip uniquely associated with a specific product to a remote customer interface having an associative database inside it between said first unique code and a unique security code ; said transmission step being performed by means of an electronic device;

- A subsequent step of writing the said univocal security code on a specific memory area of the said communication chip at short distance in association with the transmission from the said remote customer interface towards the said electronic device of a serial code uniquely associated with the said goods.

Advantageously, the said step of writing the said unique security code on a specific memory area of the said short-distance communication chip takes place by writing a second memory area of the said short-distance communication chip which was originally empty.

Advantageously, the said security code is used and therefore transmitted only once for each specific goods and by the fact that following said transmission the said univocal security code for the same goods is no longer usable.

Advantageously, an association is defined between said first univocal code, said serial code associated with a specific product and said univocal security code; said association being able to occur only once in correspondence with the first transmission of said unique security code.

Advantageously, the method comprises a step of preventive storage of a first list of said first unique codes and a second list of unique security codes on a database associated with said remote customer interface; the said first and second list containing an equal number of elements, equal to the number of goods to be safely marked.

The further characteristics and advantages of the aforementioned system and method will emerge from the description given below which represents an example of a preferred and non-limiting embodiment with reference to the attached drawings.

Description of the figures:

Figure 1 illustrates a simplified diagram of a known type of anti-counterfeiting short-distance communication system; Figure 2 illustrates an operating diagram of an anti-counterfeiting system of a known type;

Figure 3 schematically illustrates the main components of a short distance communication system for secure identification of goods according to the present invention; And

Figure 4 illustrates an operating diagram of the system according to Figure 3.

Figure 5 illustrates an operating diagram of a variant of the system illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.

With reference to the attached figures, and in detail to figure 1, the reference number 1 indicates as a whole a short-distance communication system for safe identification of goods.

The system includes at least one NFC 100 chip, or short-distance communication chip that in use is installed on goods whose originality is to be certified. The NFC chip 100 comprises inside a first memory area 110 of the read-only type capable of storing inside it a first unique code (NFC_id). As in the case of the known art previously described, the first unique NFC_id code is assigned when the NFC 100 chip is produced by its manufacturing company; this means that if there were a thousand NFC 100 chips, each of them would report in the first memory area a first unique NFC_id code respectively equal to 1, 2, 3, ..., 1000. Each NFC 100 chip is associated in use by techniques known to a specific commodity.

The NFC chip 100 also comprises a second memory area 120 of the readable and writable type, capable of storing inside it a second unique security code in the operating process of the system which will be described in detail hereinafter. At the time of installation on the goods, in each NFC chip 100 the second memory area 120 is empty or equivalently contains a code whose meaning corresponds to "unwritten memory area".

Another entity or customer 400 (which for simplicity and clarity in this description will be identified here with the fictitious name "XYZ"), after receiving the order from the manufacturer to arrange a certification on a certain quantity of goods (for example, and obviously not limitedly, one hundred luxury bags), associates with each unique NFC_id code a second code, called serial code (SER_n) or serial number 210, associated with a specific merchandise, and which can also be found directly on the merchandise itself. For example and not limited to, pursuant to the example built above, a specific luxury bag may have the following serial code 210: AAFF01252. Suppose the NFC 100 chip on the same bag has a first unique code NFC_id = 19.

The system object of the present invention comprises a remote customer interface 300 managed by the customer 400, to which a database 310 is connected.

The database 310 contains within it, unlike what happens in the known art, not only the list of the first unique NFC_id codes of each NFC 100 chip installed on a customer's goods, but also:

- A list of serial codes, one for each goods offered for sale and for which originality is to be guaranteed through the system object of this invention; And

- A list of second unique security codes, which are fetched only once from the database 310 and sent to a receiving device, such as, for example, but not limited to a mobile phone 200.

Both the serial codes, the first unique NFC_id codes and the second unique security codes are stored in the database 310 in respective lists of the same number of elements, and whose number is at least equal to the number of goods to be marked so safe through the system described here. Obviously, the above lists are stored on the database 310 before the system is put into operation. In particular, the system object of the present invention works exactly thanks to the presence of a mobile electronic device 200, having a radio transmission stage and preferably, although not limitedly, a mobile phone, on which an application capable of allowing the reading of the first code is installed. unique NFC_id from each NFC chip 100 in its proximity, and also capable of retransmitting said code to the remote customer interface 300 and receiving further codes from the latter.

To better explain the operation of the system object of the present invention, as in the case of the known art, reference will be made to a temporal scheme and to an example with codes whose fictitious number must not be understood in a limiting way (in fact, they can be used alphanumeric codes, images, barcodes, ...).

With reference to Figure 4, at the instant of time t1 the NFC chip 100 is interrogated by the mobile phone 200 placed in its immediate vicinity, and carries out (instant of time t2) a transmission step of its first unique code NFC_id (by way of example "19").

Subsequently (instant of time t3), the mobile phone 200 transmits the first unique NFC_id code to the remote customer interface 300. The transmission carried out by the cellular telephone 200 is of a known type and can take place, for example and not limitedly, through the cellular telephone network or a wireless network (WIFI). Optionally, the transmission carried out by the mobile phone can be equipped with particular encryption techniques.

At this point the remote user interface 300 through a data processing unit verifies the presence of the first unique NFC_id code received on the associative database 310, searching for the serial code (identification, as already mentioned, of the specific product in question) and the second unique security code. This second unique security code is transmitted together with the serial code from the remote user interface 300 to the mobile phone 200. In other words, the second unique security code is transmitted only upon signaling from the mobile phone 200.

In the example given in support of this description, it is assumed that the serial code corresponds to "AAFF01252", and that the second unique code is for example "HHFZ". These codes are obviously fictitious and must not for any reason be considered as limiting in their form. In the diagram of Figure 4, the transmission of the serial code and of the second univocal security code take place at the time instants t4 and t5; it should be noted that the time indications t4 and t5, formally distinct from each other, should not be considered as limiting: in fact the transmission of the two codes described above can be substantially concomitant, and it is not excluded that the second security identification code may be transmitted in fact before the serial code.

The transmission of the serial code and of the second univocal security code respectively takes place preferably using the same transmission technology used by the cellular telephone 200, that is, preferably the cellular telephone network or, where available, a wireless network (WIFI, for example).

Once transmitted, the second unique security code is deleted from the associative database 310 or, alternatively, marked (flagged) as "already used", so as to prevent any subsequent retransmission for the benefit of protection against the risk of tampering.

When the mobile phone 200 has received the transmission of the serial code, it will be possible for the user to check whether this code actually corresponds with the serial code shown on the goods, thus having a first level of security on the product to be purchased, for example.

Furthermore, when the mobile phone 200 receives the second unique security code, it retransmits it to the NFC chip 100, through a short-distance transmission technology such as that described in the paragraph relating to the prior art. In detail, the writing of the second univocal security code takes place on the second memory area 120, which is written at the instant of time t6 passing from an erasing condition, or "empty" area (i.e. no code written or alternatively presence in the second memory area of an identification code of "empty area") to a storage condition of the second unique security code. Therefore, at the instant of time t6, the first and second memory areas 110, 120 of the NFC 100 chip will contain respectively the NFC_id code "19" and the second unique security code "HHFZ". In this way, a second higher level of security is achieved than the first.

Preferably, the second univocal security code is written when the user has made the purchase of the goods on which the NFC 100 chip is positioned. Following the purchase or in any case when the second univocal security code has been memorized in the second memory area 120 of the NFC 100 chip, there will be a characterization for each individual commodity for a triad of codes of which the first is the first unique code of the NFC 100 chip, the second is the serial code and the third is the second unique code safety.

With respect to the prior art, the advantage of the system according to the present invention consists in the fact that, on the occasion of the first reading of the NFC chip 100 from the mobile phone 200, the second unique security code is written on the NFC chip 100 of the goods themselves substantially automated. For this reason, a potential counterfeiter of goods will no longer be able to read the first unique code from the NFC 100 chip without causing the second memory area 120 to be written. Therefore, the counterfeiter can only counterfeit the goods with the same first unique code NFC_id. (not "reading" it from the NFC chip but in any other way) and the same serial code, which is typically present on the goods themselves, leaving the second memory area 120 empty, but at the time of the sale of the counterfeit goods, the second unique code security associated with the first unique NFC_id code already used for the original goods, would be either canceled or flagged as already used: for this reason the identification of the counterfeit goods would be inevitable.

The mobile phone 200 can be equipped from the outset with the software and hardware necessary to read the NFC chip 100 and transmit the codes described above, or alternatively be capable of memorizing a code application (such as an App for smartphones ), which can be installed after the purchase and which allows you to communicate with the remote customer interface 300. In this second case, you would be able to have a decidedly flexible system, as the functionality expressed by it would also be extendable to mobile phones not originally equipped of the function necessary for the transceiving of the first and second univocal security code and of the serial code. What has been said so far for the software aspect also applies to any hardware additions where the mobile phone 200 is not equipped with NFC-type short-distance communication means.

In a second embodiment of the system object of the present invention, and with reference to Figure 5, the writing of the second unique code takes place without waiting for communication with the remote customer interface 300. In particular, in the second embodiment of the invention , during an initialization phase of the application installed on the cellular telephone 200, in a first step there is a trans-transmission of data between the cellular telephone 200 and the remote customer interface 300, and the latter transmits to the cellular telephone 200 a second univocal security code (instant of time t1), which must subsequently be written in the second memory area 120 of the NFC 100 chip when a verification of the first univocal code stored on the first memory area 110 of the NFC 100 chip as already described will take place .

Subsequently, in a subsequent verification phase, the user brings the mobile phone 200 close to the NFC chip 100, causing the reading of the first unique code already existing on the first memory area 110 (respectively instants of time t2 and t3).

At this point, the second unique security code already received on the mobile phone 200 from the remote customer interface 300 is transmitted to the NFC chip and stored in the second memory area (t4). If writing fails, the mobile phone is configured to inform the user to get closer to the NFC 100 chip or, equivalently, to keep it closer to it for longer.

Only if the second unique security code has been correctly written, the mobile phone 200 transmits a message to the remote customer interface 300 to specify that the storage of the second unique security code on the NFC 100 chip has been performed. During the transmission, both the first unique code NFC_id and the second unique security code already registered in the memory of the NFC chip 100 (time instant t5) are transmitted to the remote customer interface 300.

Therefore, at this point, on the remote user interface 300 there is an association procedure between the first unique code and the second unique security code.

The data processing unit of the remote customer interface verifies that the second unique code written is a valid code (previously communicated to the mobile phone 200): if the code is not valid, that is, if it does not correspond to the one previously communicated to the phone cellular 200, an indication mark of the NFC chip 100 marked by the specific NFC_id as counterfeit is stored in the database 310.

If so, however, the data processing unit of the remote customer interface provides for the association of the second unique code stored on the NFC 100 chip in correspondence with the record stored in the database and associated with the specific first unique NFC_id code received. It also verifies this first unique NFC_id code by answering the mobile phone with a transmission of an approval or disapproval message (acknowledgment / non-acknowledgment, which for simplicity can be abbreviated with the acronyms ack, nack; time instant t6 in the diagram of Figure 5) and, moreover, provides for the transmission of a further second univocal security code which will be used by the cellular telephone 200 to write on an NFC chip 100 in a future verification (instant of time t7).

For this reason, the list of the second unique security codes is still predetermined as in the case of the first embodiment, but is not previously associated with a specific first unique code NFC_id in the database 310. The storage of the list of second unique security codes security is performed on a different memory, and the association with the respective NFC_id occurs only at a later time. Therefore there is a good flexibility of use of the cellular telephone 200, which in order to write the second unique security code on the second memory area of the NFC chip 100 does not have to wait for an exchange of data with the remote user interface, since the second code unique security code for the next verification is already in its possession. Finally, it is clear that the system and chip described up to now, as well as the transceiving method of the security codes against counterfeiting of goods object of the present invention, can be applied additions, variants, obvious modifications for a person skilled in the art without thereby departing from the scope of protection provided by the attached claims.

Claims (13)

CLAIMS 1. Short-distance communication chip (100), characterized in that it includes: - a first memory or memory area (110) capable of being read by a mobile device and comprising a first unique code associated with said short distance communication chip (100); - a second memory or memory area (120), writable and readable by a mobile device, which stores a second univocal security code associated with a specific product to which said short-distance communication chip is in associated use. Short distance communication chip according to claim 1, wherein said first memory or memory area (110) is of the read-only type. 3. Short distance communication system for secure identification of goods, said communication system comprising at least one short distance communication chip (100) uniquely associated with said goods, capable of being interrogated by an electronic device (200), and a remote customer interface (300); the system is characterized by the fact that: - the said short distance communication chip (100) comprises a first and a second memory area (110; 120); said first memory area (110) containing a unique code associated with said short distance communication chip (100); the said second memory area (120) being capable of containing a second univocal code, different from the said first univocal code, univocally associated with a specific commodity; - said remote user interface (300) is configured to transmit a second univocal security code to said electronic device (200). 4. System according to claim 3, wherein said transmission of said second univocal security code occurs following a sending of a signal by said electronic device (200). 5. System according to claim 3, wherein said transmission of said second unique security code occurs in a first interrogation by said electronic device (200). System according to any one of claims 3-5, wherein said remote user interface (300) exchanges data with a database (310) containing relationships between said first unique code and said unique security code. System according to any one of claims 3-6, configured to alternatively cancel said unique security code or mark said unique security code as used following the transmission of said unique security code. 8. Method of secure identification of goods, characterized by including: - A transmission step of a first unique code (NFC_id) associated with a short distance communication chip (100) uniquely associated with a specific product to a remote customer interface (300) having an associative database between said first unique code and a unique security code; said transmission step being performed by means of an electronic device (200); - A subsequent step of writing the said unique security code on a specific memory area of the said short distance communication chip (100) in association with the transmission from the said remote customer interface (300) to the said electronic device (200) a serial code (SER_n) uniquely associated with said goods. Method according to claim 8, wherein said step of writing said unique security code on a specific memory area of said short distance communication chip (100) takes place by writing a second memory area (120) of said originally empty short-distance communication chip. 10. Method according to claim 9, characterized by the fact that the said security code is used and therefore transmitted only once for each specific goods and by the fact that following said transmission the said unique security code for the same goods is not more usable. Method according to any one of claims 8-10, characterized by defining an association between said first unique code (NFC_id), said serial code (SER_n) associated with a specific product and said unique security code; said association being able to occur only once in correspondence with the first transmission of said unique security code. Method according to any one of the preceding claims 8-11, comprising a prior memorization step of a first list of said first unique codes (NFC_id) and a second list of unique security codes on a database (310) associated with the said remote customer interface (300); the said first and second list containing an equal number of elements, equal to the number of goods to be safely marked. Method according to claim 8, wherein said transmission of said second unique security code occurs prior to said first unique code transmission step associated with a short distance communication chip to said remote customer interface (300).